Halloween Fear
by Justin Bonesteel
Summary: Riley Anderson celebrates Halloween. However, one of her emotions, Fear, is not in for this spooky holiday.
1. Halloween

It is Thursday, October 29. The same year Riley Anderson had gotten used to her new life in San Francisco. Right now, she is eating tacos for dinner with her parents.

As everyone ate their dinner, Riley's mom asked, "So, Riley, how was school today?"

"It was great!" Riley replied. "Tomorrow, we're having a Halloween party in the gym. We're going to have Halloween-related foods, Halloween music, we're allowed to wear costumes, and we will watch "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

"That's great, dear," Mrs. Anderson said. "Would you like to shop for a costume after dinner?"

"Yes!" Riley answered with glee.

"Alright then."

Inside Riley's mind, her emotions are in headquarters watching the whole thing.

"Can you believe this, everyone?" Joy spoke. "Halloween is in two days! I'm so excited!"

"Me, too," Sadness said with a weak smile.

"Yeah, sure." Disgust replied somewhat dryly.

"I hope I'll see a jack-o-lantern with an angry face that looks scary," Anger said.

"Oh, no," Fear said fearfully. "I'm scared of Halloween, hence my name Fear."

"How come you don't like Halloween?" Joy asked with concern.

"I'm afraid of everything to do with Halloween. Ghosts, goblins, witches, bats, black cats, spiders, werewolves, monsters, even jack-o-lanterns."

"But I get scared on Halloween every year!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Joy replied sarcastically. "You're always afraid of almost everything."

* * *

Later on, Riley and her mom are in a store looking for a costume.

"So, Riley, what costume do you want?" Her mom asked.

Riley thought long and hard for what seemed like a minute (her emotions were waiting for her to decide) before she finally spoke, "A bat!"

Fear gasped in shock and shrieked, "Bat!" He clings onto Anger who shoves him away.

"Okay, then," Mrs. Anderson said. They went through the costume aisle searching for a bat costume. There were many different costumes to choose from.

"Aha! There it is!" Riley said as she pointed to the bat costume once she spotted it.

After purchasing the costume, Riley and her mom are back in their home.

"So, Riley," Riley's dad said. "What costume did you buy?"

"A bat," Riley replied.

"That's great."

* * *

That evening, Riley is in her room watching "Monster House". Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear are sitting on a couch and watching the movie as well. During the scary parts, Fear would cling to his comrades or run away and hide.

By the time the movie ended, Riley was getting ready for bed. Her parents came in to say good night to their daughter.

"Good night, Riley," Mrs. Anderson said.

"Good night, Mom," Riley replied.

"Sleep tight, Riley," her dad said and they left, closing the door behind them.

Since Riley was too excited about the party tomorrow to sleep, she plugged headphones into her laptop and played sounds of thunderstorms and rain to help her sleep. Her emotions heard the sounds, and they helped them sleep as well. But Fear isn't sleeping well because Halloween, his worst fear, is coming.

On the other hand, Joy is reading a book about Halloween. When she came to a page about spiders, the close-up face of a black widow spider startled her. She turned the page quickly and sighed with relief. Shortly after, she closed the book, settled down for the night and fell asleep.


	2. School Party

The next morning, Riley got up at 6:30 AM, ate cereal for breakfast, got a bath, put on her bat costume and got ready for school.

"Have a good day," Riley's dad said.

"Tell us how the party went," her mom said.

"I will," Riley replied and went out the door.

* * *

When Riley arrived at school, two of her friends, her dream boy, Jordan, and Susan, approached her. They were both wearing costumes for Halloween. Jordan was wearing a skeleton costume and Susan was wearing a witch costume.

"Hey, Jordan and Susan!" Riley greeted and embraced them.

In Riley's mind, her emotions were watching her point of view. However, as soon as Fear saw Jordan and Susan in their costumes, he ran away screaming.

"What a coward." Disgust remarked.

"So, guys," Riley said to her friends. "Are you excited about the party today this afternoon?"

"Yes," they both said.

"Me, too," Riley said. Then they went inside the school to their classes.

At Riley's class, the teacher announced to the students, "Since tomorrow is Halloween and we and the rest of the school are going to the gym this afternoon for the party at 1:30, we're going to watch "Hotel Transylvania"."

As the class watched the movie, Riley and some of the other students were reading and drawing Halloween stuff.

Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear were watching the movie while sitting on a couch. Joy was eating popcorn while watching it, but Fear wasn't enjoying one bit of it because he's afraid of everything to do with Halloween.

* * *

That afternoon, Riley and other students who are wearing costumes are in the gym for the party. There were a lot of Halloween foods to eat, and there was Halloween music playing.

As Riley, Jordan and Susan were chatting and enjoying the party, Riley was eating chocolate cupcakes with orange frosting and bat, ghost and spider toppings on top. Susan was eating jack-o-lantern cookies.

"So, guys," Riley said. "Do you plan on going trick-or-treating tomorrow?"

"I do," Jordan said.

"Me too," Susan said.

"That's great!" Riley exclaimed. "I'll ask my parents if we can go tomorrow."

A while later, an announcer announced, "Attention, everyone. We are now starting "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Please take your seats and enjoy the movie."

Upon hearing the announcement, Riley, Jordan and Susan sat beside each other and continued eating cupcakes and cookies in their seats as they watched the movie. They sang along to the song "This Is Halloween".

Riley's emotions, except Fear, were watching the film. Anger was humming along with the song.

"I wish Fear wasn't so afraid of Halloween." Sadness said.

"Well, Fear has always been afraid of Halloween ever since Riley lived in Minnesota." Joy replied. "At least he didn't make Riley fear Halloween."

* * *

After school ended, Riley, Jordan and Susan were on their way home.

"Hey, guys," Riley said to her friends. "When you go trick-or-treating tomorrow, say hi if you see me."

"We will," Jordan said.

"Good," Riley said. "Well, see you later." Then she headed home humming "This Is Halloween" all the way.

Her emotions were standing at the control console.

"Did she just say she's going trick-or-treating tomorrow?" Fear asked.

"That's what she said." Joy replied. "It should be fun."

"Oh, no! Tomorrow is Halloween, and that means there's going to be a lot of scary stuff tomorrow! I can't stand it!"

"Well, whatever you do, don't make Riley be afraid of Halloween."

"Oh, I won't! I'm going to be hiding from all those scary things tomorrow!"

When Riley got home, her parents greeted her. "So how was the party?" her mom asked.

"It was awesome!" Riley replied. "Oh, you should've been there! There was a lot of foods like cupcakes with orange frosting and Halloween toppings on top, and jack-o-lantern cookies! Everyone was wearing costumes! And I liked the movie!"

"That's good," her dad said.

"Anyway, can we go trick-or-treating tomorrow because Halloween is tomorrow?"

"We were planning on doing that, my vampire bat."

Riley laughed at her father's comment.

It is revealed that Joy is taking control of the console in Riley's mind that is making Riley laugh. "Can you believe this? She is going trick-or-treating tomorrow!"

The other emotions, except Fear, were excited.


	3. Trick-Or-Treating

The next morning, it's finally Halloween! Riley and her emotions woke up upon feeling the sunlight on their eyes.

Joy went up to her calendar and crossed off October 30. She gasped happily upon coming across today October 31. "It's Halloween!"

"Rise and shine, everyone!" she announced. "Today is Halloween!"

Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear all came out when they heard Joy. Everyone was ecstatic except Fear. "I can't believe it finally came! There's going to be a lot of scary stuff everywhere tonight!"

"I know!" Joy said.

After Riley and her parents finished eating their breakfast, Riley's mom said, "Riley, while you were at school yesterday, I went out and bought a pumpkin. Would you like to carve it into a jack-o-lantern?"

"Yes!" Riley answered. "I want it to have an angry face that looks scary."

"Now that's just what I wanted to hear and see!" Anger said.

"Oh, no!" Fear exclaimed. "She's going to carve a jack-o-lantern! I can't bear to see that scary face she carves on it!"

About one hour and 30 minutes later, the family finished carving the jack-o-lantern. It had a murderous glare that looked extremely scary.

"Well, how does it look?" Riley's dad asked.

"It looks perfect!" Riley exclaimed with glee.

As soon as Riley started carving the face on the pumpkin, Fear whimpered and hid behind his comrades. And he still is when Riley is still admiring her creation.

"So, Riley," Mr. Anderson said. "Since we got plenty of time until trick-or-treating tonight, is there anything you'd like to do?"

"I was thinking, I want to go see "Goosebumps". I read the books when we lived in Minnesota, and I still have them."

"That sounds like a great idea." Riley's mom said.

"I checked the show times, and it starts at 11:30. Can we go at that time?" Riley asked.

"Sure thing," Mom said.

"Oh, boy," Joy remarked. "This should be the best Halloween ever!"

"Oh no! Not "Goosebumps"!" Fear said. "The books were scary and feature lots of scary things!"

* * *

Later on, Riley and her parents are driving to the movie theater to go see "Goosebumps".

While Riley and her parents watch "Goosebumps", Joy, Sadness, Anger and Disgust sat on their couch and watched the movie. Joy was eating popcorn and Sadness was drinking soda.

On the other hand, Fear was reading a nature book that doesn't feature any scary animals so he can try and not think about Halloween.

* * *

That evening, Riley put on her bat costume and was holding a jack-o-lantern basket.

"Is my vampire bat all ready to go?" Riley's mom asked.

"I'm ready!" Riley remarked.

"Wait," Dad said. "Let me take a picture of you in your costume."

He takes the picture, and the family heads out the door to start trick-or-treating. The jack-o-lantern they carved earlier was sitting by the doorstep with a candle lit inside it so people can see it.

As soon as the trick-or-treating began, Fear headed to his room so he doesn't have to be afraid of seeing all the scary stuff that are yet to be seen.

He closes the door to his room when he gets there and lets out a sigh of relief. Then he turned on a nature show on the TV in his room and is watching about whales.

Later that night, Riley and her parents finished trick-or-treating at 11:30 pm. They went upstairs to their rooms and went to bed.

Riley's emotions went to bed as well. Joy, Sadness, Anger and Disgust slept soundly. They've been joyous that Halloween. But Fear didn't enjoy it at all. He was glad that Halloween was over until next year. When it comes again, he will be in his room all day long.

 **THE END**


End file.
